


Prince Lindworm

by SarahHBE



Series: Cap-IM 2018 Bingos [3]
Category: Marvel Ultimates, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Mythology, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-17 00:06:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13647243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahHBE/pseuds/SarahHBE
Summary: Based on the Old Norse folk tale, Prince Lindworm, this is a re-imagining of the story for the Cap/Iron Man Fairy Tale Bingo.Unable to have a child, a queen takes the advice of a strange man.  But by not heeding his warning she has twins - a beautiful baby boy and a horrible lindworm.  Years later, when the prince goes off to find a wife his attempts to leave the kingdom are thwarted by the lindworm, who, as the oldest, demands a bride before his younger brother.





	Prince Lindworm

**Author's Note:**

> The interpretation of the tale I used is from _East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales From the North_ published by Calla Editions and with gorgeous illustrations by Kay Nielsen.
> 
> Since the Cap/Iron Man Fairy Tale bingo allows for the use of other tales I really wanted to use this book and one of the old tales from the North in order to show there's more out there than Disney, Bros. Grimm, and H.C. Anderson fairy tales. I tried to stay as faithful to the original source as possible so this is very much an AU though the characters are based off those from the Marvel Ultimates.
> 
> Also, a lindworm is reminiscent of dragon though they tend to only have two legs and are more serpent like. Click [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindworm) for the Wikipedia page on them.

Once on a time there was a wealthy kingdom ruled by a fine king and a much-loved queen.  They were very happy and their kingdom prospered but there was one thing missing – they had no children.  The king, who was not so young, despaired that he would have no heir and the queen dearly wanted a child.

One day the queen went out for a walk by herself into the nearby forest and there she happened upon a strange man with a red cape who was nothing but kind to the queen.

“Why do you look so sad, pretty lady?”  The strange man asked.

“It would be no use to tell you, dear sir, for nothing can be done in the world to help me.” Replied the queen.

“Oh, you never know, by telling me your sorrows something just might be done.”

“I can’t imagine how, but if you don’t mind listening … all my woes come from the fact that the king and I do not have children.  Magicians and doctors alike cannot find out why and despite the many tries we have not been so blessed.”

“Well!” the strange man cried, “it seems I can be of use!  In just nine months you’ll have a beautiful and healthy child if you do exactly as I say.  Tonight, at sunset, take a little drinking cup with two handles and put it bottom upwards on the ground in the north-west corner of your most loved garden.  Then, at sunrise you will lift the cup and find two roses underneath – one red and one white.  If you eat the red one you will have a son, if you eat the white you will have a daughter.  Whatever you do, however, do not eat both or a curse will fall on your family!”

The queen professed a great deal of gratitude, going so far as to try and give the strange man a golden ring but he refused and sent the queen back towards her castle.  There the queen did as she was told and on the following sunrise she lifted the cup and found the two small roses.  She was surprised to find them because she didn’t think anything could have come from the strange man’s advice and yet here were the two roses. 

The queen paused, uncertain of which to take.  If she ate the red she would have a son but he may one day go off to war and die.  If she ate the white she would have a daughter to dote on but one day she too would be lost to the queen when the princess was married off and sent to another kingdom.  Quickly, and without second guessing herself, she plucked the white flower and ate it.  But the taste of the flower was so sweet and delightful that she plucked the red flower and ate it, too, completely forgetting the strange man’s warning.

Nine months later the queen went into labor and gave birth to twins.  The youngest was a healthy baby boy but the first was a lindworm which skittered out of the room and away before anyone but the queen had seen it.  The queen was quite frightened but since no one else seemed to have seen the lindworm she decided to forget the incident as nothing but a dream.  

The king was quite happy to have his heir and the king and queen named him Gregory.  The prince was much loved and well taken care of and raised up to take over his father’s kingdom.  After some time, the prince was old enough to marry and so the king sent him off to find himself a wife.  But at the very first cross-roads the prince came upon the lindworm who was large and so frightening that several of those in the prince’s entourage fled in fright.

“A spouse for me, before a spouse for you!” roared the lindworm.

The prince was confused but decided to take his train down another path out of the kingdom, but once again at the first crossroads he came upon the lindworm.

“A spouse for me, before a spouse for you!” roared the lindworm.

The prince tried several more routes but still found the lindworm at the first crossroads he came upon and could not get past the beast no matter what he tried.  Finally, the prince returned to his parent’s castle.  Once he returned he told the king and queen what had happened and the queen was forced to reveal the truth.  As the lindworm was the older brother it would be he that would need to be married before his younger brother.  The king was desperate for Prince Gregory to wed so he could take over the kingdom and so he sent messages to a nearby kingdom who sent him a princess to marry the king’s son (though he did not say which son the princess would marry). 

And so, a princess as beautiful as a sunset came and went before the priest which is where she first laid eyes on her future husband, Prince Lindworm.  She could not back out and so married the hideous creature but when they went to their bedchambers her anger broke free and she tried to stab the lindworm with a knife.  Instead the lindworm killed her and ate her up.

The next day Prince Gregory set off to travel to other kingdoms and get himself a wife.  However, like before, at the first cross-roads there stood the lindworm.

“A spouse for me, before a spouse for you!” roared the lindworm.

The prince was annoyed and as before tried to get around the lindworm or go another route but at every turn he was thwarted by the lindworm.

“A spouse for me, before a spouse for you!” roared the lindworm.

Finally, Prince Gregory was forced to return to his parent’s castle where his father sent off to other kingdoms so that another princess could be sent to marry the lindworm.  Once again, a princess was provided though her face was covered in heavy veils.   She stood before the priest and met her intended for the first time who she was horrified to learn was a lindworm.  But she could no more speak up at this point as the previous princess could and so held her tongue until they were in their room after the marriage.  There she shrieked and raged that she should have been tricked into marrying such a hideous beast.  Well, the lindworm grew angry and ripped her veils away showing the princess’s scarred face and shouting, “Who are you to declare me ugly!?”  That sent the princess into such a rage she tried to stab the lindworm with a knife.  Like before he killed her instead and ate her up.

The next day Prince Gregory set out for a third time to find himself a bride but when he came to the first cross-roads there was the lindworm!

“A spouse for me, before a spouse for you!” roared the lindworm.

“Twice you have had wives and twice you have eaten them!” the prince pointed out.  But the lindworm would not be moved.

“A spouse for me, before a spouse for you!” roared the lindworm.

A so the prince turned back and told his father right off as to what had happened with his brother.

“Two kings are already angry enough to go to war with us!  I cannot risk sending for another foreign princess!” Bemoaned the king.  But then he remembered the old washer woman who lived down the hill from the castle and who had a daughter.  The girl would be a fine wife for the lindworm and no other kings would get angry if the lindworm killed her.

The king set out to the washer woman’s house but found at her door a large and intimidating young man with eyes the color of the sky and hair the color of the sun.  The king asked after the old washer woman who came out to speak to the king.  When he asked as to her daughter the woman grew confused.

“I don’t have a daughter, my king.” The old washer woman said.

“But I have seen a fair maiden here before, thin and with hair the color of the sun …”

The young man’s eye ticked as the old woman laughed.

“That was my Steven, here, he has grown much in the past year and is thankfully no longer so sickly.”

Well, thought the king, there are no laws that prevent a prince from taking a man to wife and since he was here …

“Then, madam, if your son should consent to wed my son I shall see to it you want for nothing and are taken well cared for.” The king said.

“You mean the lindworm?”

The king thought perhaps he wouldn’t have to distinguish which son he meant but it seemed the old washer woman was much more informed and intelligent than the kings that had sent their daughters.  “Yes, Prince Lindworm.”

“Oh no, the lindworm has killed two wives, you cannot have my Steven, too.  Undoubtedly the lindworm shall kill him too!” the washer woman cried but then the young man spoke up suddenly.

“I’ll do it.”

The king blinked as did the washer woman.  The king was glad to have an easy job at convincing the lad despite his mother’s objections but since the old woman protested so much the young man was forced to continue.

“On the agreement that you should never lack for food, or warmth and that should you ever ail the king will send his personal physicians to tend to you I will wed Prince Lindworm.”  The king readily agreed, he would see that the old washer woman was treated as a member of the royal family and well taken care of but still the old woman protested to which the young man shrugged.

“And if the lindworm means to kill me, then I will simply kill him first.”

The king could not see a downside to either outcome and so the deal was struck and the lad was told to present himself tonight to the castle in order to wed the lindworm.

The young man went into the woods with his sword and set off to strengthen his sword arm before going to the castle.  He struck down many trees mightily before his arm was stopped by a strange old man.

“What did these trees do to you that you have felled so many?” the man asked.

“I have to strengthen my arm before I wed the lindworm in case I have to lop of his head.” Said Steve.

“Why do you have to lop of the head of the prince?” wondered the strange man.

“He has eaten two wives, if he tries to eat me I will have to kill him.”

“I can tell you how to prevent him from eating you without anyone losing their life, if you wish to hear it.”  So, Steve consented and the strange man continued, “After the wedding ceremony, before going to bed, ask to be dressed in 10 snow-white sleep shirts.  You should also ask for a tub of lye (that is washing water prepared with wood ashes), a tub of fresh milk, and as many whips as a boy can carry to be brought to the bedchamber.  When the lindworm asks you to remove a shirt tell him to slough a skin.  And when all his skins are off you need to dip the whips in the lye and whip him.  After you should bathe him with the milk and then take him into your arms and hold him – even if just for a moment.”

Well, the young man thought the strange man quite mad but did as he was told.  When he went to the castle he went before the priest and there met his intended for the first time.  They were married and a wedding feast was held.  The young man asked for that which the strange man had told him to ask for and at first the servants did not want to provide the items because they thought it was some silly peasant superstition.  But the king said to give the lad whatever he asked for and he was quickly dressed in the snow-white tunics, and the tubs of lye and milk were brought up to the bedchamber while a boy carried as many whips as he could hold after.

The young man and the lindworm retired to their bedchamber where the lindworm asked the young man to take off a tunic.

“Prince Lindworm, slough a skin!” Steve demanded.

“No one has ever dared tell me to do that before.” The lindworm mused.

“But I command you to do it now!” Steve returned.

And so, the lindworm wiggled and groaned until a snake skin lay on the floor next to him.  For his part, Steve removed a sleep shirt and tossed it on the shed skin.

“Fair lad, remove your sleep shirt.” The lindworm asked.

“Prince Lindworm, slough a skin!” Steve demanded.

“No one has ever dared tell me to do that before.” The lindworm mused.

“But I command you to do it now!” Steve returned.

And so, the lindworm wiggled and groaned until a snake skin lay on the floor next to him.  For his part, Steve removed a sleep shirt and tossed it on the shed skin.

And so, this went on until nine lindworm skins were lying on the floor, each of them covered with a snow-white tunic.  There was nothing left of the lindworm but a huge mass, so horrible to look at that Steve could not imagine it’s equal in all the world.  The lad seized the whips, dipped them in the lye and set about whipping the lindworm as much as he could.  Next, Steve bathed the lindworm in the milk before dragging him onto the bed and laying down with the creature in his arms.  So tired was the young man that he quickly fell asleep.

The next day the household stood outside the bedchamber’s door waiting to see if the young man had been eaten as well.  Finally, unable to hold off his curiosity the king entered the room where he found the lad curled around the most beautiful prince they had ever seen.  His skin was golden as if it had been kissed by the sun, his head was full of dark curls and when he opened his eyes he had the bluest eyes anyone had ever seen.  When he saw that they were being watched the dark-haired prince smirked greatly before laying eyes on his younger brother.  The lad, his own blue eyes open to the scene around them, tightened his arms around the beautiful prince.

“This one is mine, go and find your own.” The older brother declared to his younger brother.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There was technically a little more to the story but it was mostly "a newer, bigger party was thrown and everyone was happy" so I thought it'd be more fun to end with Tony's line to Greg.
> 
> Find me on Tumbr [here](https://sarahhbe.tumblr.com/)


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